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United trio selected for Qantas Young Socceroos

THREE Gold Coast United players have been selected in Jan Versleijen’s 18-man Qantas Young Socceroos squad for the SBS Cup which will be played in Shizuoka, Japan later this week (18-21 August).

THREE Gold Coast United players have been selected in Jan Versleijen-s 18-man Qantas Young Socceroos squad for the SBS Cup which will be played in Shizuoka, Japan later this week (18-21 August).

Midfielder Jake Barker-Daish, utility Josh Brillante and promising forward Elliott Ronto all departed for Japan last night to take part in the tournament. Mitch Cooper and Bobby Russell were also in line for selection, but minor injuries prevented them from travelling with the squad.

Barker-Daish was a member of the recent Qantas Young Socceroos squad that competed at the FIFA U-20 World Cup earlier this month and will again push his international claims.

The SBS Cup will be the first outing for this group of players looking to qualify for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey and Versleijen knows playing matches against quality opposition is an extremely important part of that process.

“This is the start of our new campaign and our first official time together for the next group of Qantas Young Socceroos,” said Versleijen

“With our AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers scheduled for later this year, this tournament is a good place to start our preparations,” he concluded.

The Qantas Young Socceroos will face Shizuoka on Thursday afternoon at the Fujieda Sports Park Soccer Field, followed by Japan on Sunday evening at the Kusanagi Stadium and will play their final match of the SBS Cup against Mexico on Sunday evening at the Stadium Ecopa.

The AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers will be held from 31 October-8 November, 2010, with the venue to be announced soon.

The Qantas Young Socceroos have been drawn in Group G of the competition along with China P.R., Indonesia, Singapore and Macau.